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“The development of a pallet
production facility at our UK factory
enables us to expand our UK product
portfolio and maintain our corporate
commitment to the production of high
quality plastic products in the UK.
This also adds weight to the fact that
Craemer UK are members of the ‘Made
in Britain’ campaign.”
Employing over 700 people at four
European sites in Germany, Slovakia,
France and the UK Craemer is known
as a pioneer in plastics processing
and continues to be at the forefront
of innovation with its wide range of
high-quality reusable plastic products.
With highly-sophisticated research and
development programs continually
being carried out in Germany and a
keen eye for developments in the PEP
and mouldings industry the family-
owned company is ever mindful that
the business always has to go that
extra mile in order to stay ahead of the
competition.
Production at the UK subsidiary started
nearly ten years ago and Poppitt knows
all too well that the grass can never
be allowed to grow beneath their feet.
“Quality has to be assured in all our
offerings and there are headaches to
overcome along the way. We have
to continually monitor the fluctuating
world price of our basic raw material,
PEP. As this is a bi-product of the
highly variable petro chemical industry
we often find that no two quarters
are the same when it comes to the
procurement of raw materials.”
Having recently visited Craemer UK’s
upgraded hub in Telford I can vouch
for the fact that this is a business on
top of its game. Amidst huge stock
piles of raw PEP materials, in a rainbow
abundance of colour variants that
are so important to the specific colour
requirements of customers, seven
huge moulding machines are up and
running with split mechanical shifts
spread over a 24/7 working week.
Some of the machines being operated
in the production hall are huge 3,000
ton units run on a highly automated
platform.
On demand
“Not only do we have to be ready to
produce on demand orders that can be
readily dispatched from our 5,000 unit
capacity distribution area but we have
to be in constant communication with
our German plant.
This is done via Hydra, which is our
highly agile production software tool
that is constantly monitored by our
German colleagues who are able
alert us to any scheduling changes or
hiccups in the manufacturing process,”
explains Poppitt.
Another impressive part of the Telford
operation is the testing chamber
where a dedicated team implement
a drop testing program at scheduled
intervals on all of the production
batches. With one and a half metre
drops for pallets and three metre
drops for refuse bins (wheelie bin
units) product integrity is under high
scrutiny.
One of the products I saw put through
its paces was the highly durable and
adaptable Craemer D Pallet. This
1200 x 1000mm industrial pallet is
performing well in the UK as a cost-
effective alternative to wooden pallets.
The unit offers high load capacity and
great versatility with many retrofit table
features. “For many of our customers
this is a pallet solution that affords a
high degree of flexibility, durability
and quality, yet is very cost-effective,”
explains Poppitt.
The various retrofit options make
the adaption to ever-changing
logistic requirements simple. Up to 4
strengthening profiles can be easily
inserted to increase the pallets’ load
capacity to a maximum of 1250kg in
high-rack systems. Optional anti-slip
profiles from the upper to the lower
deck surfaces provide load security.
An all-rounder
“The D pallet has already been proved
to be a reliable load carrier in the daily
processes of many UK companies and a
definite all-rounder. We have no doubt
that many more companies will soon
make the switch to plastic pallets,” adds
Poppitt.
A man who is seeing that switch first
hand is Regional Pallet Sales Manager
Gordon Darbyshire. “Being a family
run business there is a lot of old meets
new. On the sales side we look to our
new Internet sales team being run
from Germany as a highly innovative
and an ‘of the now’ tool that is rapidly
gaining momentum. This is as well as
implementing some knocking on doors
basics,” comments Darbyshire.
“Whilst out canvassing for new clients
throughout the UK I’ve noticed there is a
distinct movement to businesses looking
for a sustainable and future-proof edge
when it come to their materials handling
solution. Fortunately we are in a position
to offer our existing customers and,
hopefully, our many new ones this with
our D pallet range. In the UK we have
had a real push with this product since
mid-January 2015 and the market’s
response to it has been excellent,” he
added.
“Thanks to the initiative in Telford
Craemer UK’s production and
warehouse facilities are now able to
offer our customers improved production
lead-times, faster order to delivery
turnaround and a significantly increased
production capacity,” concludes Poppitt.
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Logistics Business Magazine | September 2015
PLASTIC PALLETS